I, Marie
by Kroniis
Summary: Marie is tired of the testing. Marie is tired of only being known as 'The Cure'. So, when the opportunity comes, she flees the Pitt. The Capitol Wasteland provides the freedom she's craved, but with the cynical eye of her guide Riley and the damaged mind of the LW, Turnip, she becomes a lot more than a Cure. :: Includes FO3 plot with my own twists, add ons and eventually NewVegas :
1. Chapter 1

**_Yay, I'm back! Yeppers, this is the first chapter of the original story, Runaway but I executed this so beautifully that I had to keep it. Same direction of plot, longer chapters now that I have sort of mastered typing on a phone but the same request applies:_** _ignore spelling mistakes._

 _ **Now, you'll notice there is a roman numeral down here, they** WILL NOT **be on every chapter, just diary entries so to not get confused - there's your warning.**_

* * *

 **I : _August 9, 2093_**

* * *

My name is Marie.

I'm going to start keeping this journal, a gift from my fiance, and I'm not real sure on how to start these things. Just pour my heart out? Ha. I suppose I should at least start with _why_ I'm keeping this journal now.

I am widely known as 'The Cure'.

For what? Well, Trog seems to to be the most popular, we've only just begun to test ghoulism and other diseases developed by the Wastes. So far, tests have proven successful, but I fear my Keepers - my adoptive mother, Jenna, and a team of reformed Slavers - are blind to what is happening around them.

The cure they worked so hard to develop - its turning people. I can't really say what into, but I know something is making people go crazy and its not the radiation. Radiation doesn't turn someone instantly feral, like a Trog or an old ghoul.

The cure is destroying their brain.

And my Keepers want to run more tests.

No, no more tests. And that leads me to where we are now, inside the folds of this journal. I've grown sick of being nothing more than a cure to these people, most of them don't even remember my name. Some of them hate my supposed purity; I've never even had to sniffles.

I've arranged for an escape, in the form of the leader of our scavenging teams: Riley Catscal.

She's agreed to take me away, to D.C. where I can be...well, free.

* * *

 **II :** _ **August 13, 2093**_

* * *

I visited Werhner's grave today, I don't really know why. Maybe I'm looking for a sign, a reason to stay. Werhner would give me plenty were he still here, he died when I was ten. Its been six years but feels like a life time ago. My adoptive mother, Midea, died a year before him. She died from old age, he was working in the Mill - helping repair some old machinery on its last leg, when a Trog ran rampant through the building.

Took the shots to the head to kill it, Werhner died first. I never even got to say goodbye.

I wonder what he'd think of my thoughts, how the Pitt has turned out. Since his death, everything has lost the personal touches. The Lab feels so cold, mechanic, where once I didn't mind going inside.

Now, they just want to use me up, get what they can, while they can.

Well, I'm done. I need to pack, I leave tomorrow night and I have things to do. I'll write again when I can...but it may be awhile.

I hope.

* * *

 _ **Okey dokey, the next chapter will be an actual chapter, not a journal entry. What do you guys think?**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**I thank you Guest and The95will for reviewing. Chapters do get longer, I just didn't know where else to go here.**_

* * *

He found her near the chained and barred gate of Haven, staring down at the three guards patrolling that gate. She was on one of the balconnies strung overhead, wearing low swung jeans and a stained...that could have been blue once, flannel. Her blonde hair was combed back in a messy bun, a red bandana keeping her bangs offnher face.

"Hey beautiful," he smiled.

She jumped and looked over at him, a wide smile on her face. "Jackson," her voice was a breath as she jogged towards him, wrapping her arms around him.

He chuckled into her hair, letting her go after basking in her warmth long enough to not creep her out. "You left early from work," he pushed a free strand of hair back into her bandana. "I didn't see you at lunch."

She gave him a small smile and pulled away. "Yeah, sorry about that. I just...had to get out of there for awhile. Guess the time just got away from me."

"And you ended up here," he leaned back on the railing to his left. "You always end up here."

Marie shrugged and leaned beside him. "I was born in there...my parents died in there. I can't help but come back...even if I can't get in."

Jackson quirked his lips in the corner. "There's a reason you can't get in. The only ones allowed in were Midea and Werhner. Since then they claim in a Trog breeding ground. Just let it go Marie," he smiled and bumped her shoulder with his. "We have bigger things to worry about..."

Marie smiled and looked down, imagining a beautiful diamond ring on her finger where there never would be. They were supposed to be married in three weeks, Marie had been bleaching fabric to make a dress, knowing it would never be an actual wedding dress. Her smile faltered when she remembered her work and his hope were wasted on her plans. She couldn't look him in the eye, and it wasn't because of cold feet.

"I know," she whispered and pushed away from the railing. "Guess we should get to our house, I have to cook before Jenna gets in from work."

"Mind if I swing by," Jackson hummed. "I'm out of steak..."

Marie hissed between her teeth as they slipped through one of many doors leading to Downtown; the door led down to a large staircase that dropped out in their apartment complex. "Sorry, I only have two steaks and a box of mac 'n cheese."

He chuckled at her heart broken look and waved a hand as their work boots made contact with moldy carpet. "Is okay, sweet heart, really," he leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

Her smile faltered but he didn't seem to notice. "Yeah...see you."

He smiled again and turned on his heel, walking down the hallway to his apartment. Marie waited to wave before he walked into his apartment. Once the door snapped shut to his apartment, Marie dropped her smile and bustled to her apartment.

She had an hour to pack, cook and get to the rail yard before Jenna got home.

As she stuffed things - including her journal - into her pack, she thought of Riley, the head of the scaving teams in the Pitt. She was going to be taking her to the Capitol Wasteland and they had to do this fast. Once the Cure was proved missing, the whole place would lock down. Gates would close, guards would swarm the streets and there would be no escaping.

"I have to get out of here," she whispered. "I just have to..."

* * *

The kid has a death wish for sure.

No sane person _wants_ to go to the Capitol Wasteland, unless you were a savenger but the Brotherhood seemed to have already picked the place clean of anything valuable. Riley didn't really know why she agreed to ferry the little twerp all that way, not like Marie had anything to pay her with. Maybe it was just boredom talking but Riley found the idea a mix between insane and logical. So the kid was tired of being a test subject, understandable, but why not trek all the way to the Mojave or even further North where new settlements were popping up day after day.

Stable settlements.

"Got your shit," Riley mumbled, adjusting her gloves.

When Marie didn't answer, Riley went to snap at her but only saw the back of her head. She was watching the emergency lights wave through the sky, listening to the old disaster alarm blare; wonder if that same siren went off two hundred years ago?

"Marie," Riley growled. "We gotta go - now!"

The blonde shook her head and her shoulders shrugged with a heavy breath. "Right," when she turned around, Riley saw that journal in her hands. "Lets go."

As she jumped onto the service car, Riley plunged the handle down and the cart began to move. Marie let her legs dangle off the platform, feet swinging childishly until Riley couldn't see her anymore, and maybe even afterwards.

"Riley?"

The dark skinned woman grunted and let go of the handle, sighing in relief when it continued to coast. "What," she muttered gruffly, lighting a cigarette and plunking down beside Marie.

The teenager looked at the end of Riley's cigarette, sighing. "Think this is a good idea?"

"Personally," Riley breathed out a trail of smoke. "No. But you never know what decision will be the right one until you actually take a chance. Who knows, maybe this will be your _destiny._ "

Marie smiled a little. "Yeah...destiny..."

* * *

 _ **Ya know, I hadn't even thought about where I would take Marie - I mean, of course I did but it was terribly bland - but now with some extra thought, Marie has a serious destiny towards the end. This will most definitely be a two part story and I hope you all stick for that.**_

 _ **Hint: Marie will end up in the Mojave.**_


	3. Chapter 3

"Someone needs to t -"

Words died as a slim figure stalked past them, head covered by a tan hood, body wrapped in scarred recon armor. A heavy rifle was strapped to their back but all eyes kept to the bloody gauntlet on her right hand. She twisted her head slightly to the right, hearing the mutters after she passed. She looked back down to the metal under her boots.

"They despise me," her throat croaked.

"They fear you."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

He grunted.

That was it, not that she really expected much but she did expect a little more than that. Still, it grated her nerves alongside the thick thump of her boots on the metal ramps leading up to the Saloon.

They feared her? She'd give them a reason.

* * *

"Marie?"

The young blonde groaned, rolling onto her back, arms spreading out at her sides. Her eyes opened slowly and she growled at the beams of light coming through the boards slapped across the opening to the train tunnel.

She rubbed the back of her right hand over her eyes and sat up, legs dangling over the edge of the rail car. "We're here," she yawned.

"Obviously," Riley snorted. She tossed Marie's bag over into the young girls lap and then slung hers over her shoulder. ""I let you sleep long enough. Time to head out."

Marie yawned again and nodded, pushing herself to her feet. She pushed her arms through the straps of her knapsack, following Riley out of the tunnel; the creak and moan of the door hinges was amplified in the tunnel. The light was harsh and the heat stung her arms, causing her skin to immediately host a sheen of sweat. But she didn't care, with the view it was worth it. Everything was gray, green, dusty and very ugly. There was nothing, only a cluster of buildings to the West and to the South, a faint tower waving against the skyline.

But nothing meant no rules.

No _tests_.

No _hovering adults_.

 _Nothing_.

"Marie, c'mon!"

Marie tore her eyes away from the sky and she followed Riley down a small path leading down to the flat lands. Riley stopped the blonde at the bottom of the incline, passing an assault rifle to her; she didn't look confident in herself.

"You know how to use that," Riley questioned, cradling her own rifle in her long hands.

"Kind of," Marie pulled the butt of the rifle against her shoulder. "But don't expect me to save you or anything with it."

Riley chuckled and they started out into the Wasteland, boots crunching on gravel. There was no cover and it made Marie jumpy; her fears were furthered by the screech of a mole rat being clawed apart by two monstrous beasts in the distance. _What the Hell were those things?_

The air was so quiet, Marie was close to muttering by the time Riley stopped; going by the suns position alone, it was just after noon. Riley pulled Marie off to the side, pushing her into the shade of a bombed overpass. She passed Marie a bottle of water, the silence finally getting to the teen.

"I didn't think it would be this quiet," Marie muttered.

Riley grunted as she swallowed. "Capitol Wasteland is just that - a Wasteland. There's nothing here but small settlements too isolated to hear outside of their walls," Riley looked out over the land as she capped her water. "You have two choices," she looked back to Marie. "Big Town or Megaton. My choice would be Megaton but Big Town is filled with kids more close to your age."

Marie shrugged and stuffed her water into her pack while Riley did the same. "I would prefer safety over company. Megaton."

Riley nodded and squinted her eyes against the sun as they started walking again. "Good choice."

* * *

They're walking longer than she thinks when Riley announces its time to make camp.

"Just..." Marie looked around, fingers tightening on the assault rifle in her hands. "Out here in the open?"

Riley chuckled and gestured for Marie to continue following her. "Backs to the overpass knocked down," she points to a long strip of road propped up with its old concrete pillar. "That way, anything comes at us, we don't get caught from behind. You sleep, I'll keep first watch."

Marie nods a little numbly, looking up at the sky and noting the hues of violet and red shooting through faintly green clouds. She bets the sky would be beautiful if she were back in time, before the bombs, before radiation had leeched the land of any other colors but black, red and green.

"Something doesn't feel right," Marie mutters as she slumps down against the concrete.

Years of anticipating testing's and kidnappings had made Marie a tad paranoid but she was able to scope out eyes easily now. She couldn't see any, but she could certainly feel them on her. She didn't care if it was a human, ghoul or even a Trog at this point - she didn't like it.

Riley nodded slowly as she pulled out an old, rusty lighter. "I feel it too," she struck up a small fire in a hole she had dug. "Its common in the Wastes, anything could be watching us. The only thing that come charging are Deathclaws and we're already long past their territory."

"Deathclaw," Marie cocked her head.

Riley crossed her legs under herself. "Forget we don't have them up North," she holds her own rifle close, back to the pass. "Those things that were tearing apart that Mole Rat - those are Deathclaws. Meanest sons-a-bitches out here and don't you forget it. Sometimes they don't even eat people, just cut them up slowly. Intelligent fuckers, I'll give 'em that. But they don't generally leave Old Olney or their breeding grounds, like to stay up North mainly."

Marie nodded and held her gun like a doll, the hairs on her arms standing on end. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, really.

* * *

"I'm not sure about this," she muttered, eye narrowed against the scope of her rifle.

He lay at her side, peering through his own scope to the fire under the overpass. They had been scoping out the pair around the fire for a couple hours now, unsure on their purpose so close to the outpost he and his partner had set up. They seemed harmless, but he had been wrong before; they both had the deep scars to prove their failures.

"We can approach them before they wake," he kept his voice low, eyeing the taller woman with thick dreads.

Something about her was familiar.

His partner pulled her rifle back, mind lingering on the young blonde down there; he wasn't the only one feeling some sort of familiarity.

"Fine," she muttered, loading a full clip into her rifle.

She would be the sniper, in case he got in trouble. He wouldn't let her go down there.

He looked over at her as she braced her back against the top of the makeshift ramp she was usually under to block the suns glint off a scope. She had her hood back and a cigarette clamped between her teeth, eyes hard and methodical behind her glasses; she rarely wore them.

"You are angry," he murmurs and shuffles backwards on his elbows until he's certain he can sit up without being seen.

She shrugged and adjusted her scope, pulling her glasses off to peer down it. "Agitated, not angry," she lowered the gun to cradle it in her lap. "Why so concerned?"

He shrugged and then shook his head, looking towards the edge of the cliff. "I will head down, I will signal you if you need to come down."

"Roger that," she grumbled and tugged her hood down around her face.

Now all they had to do was wait for the sun to go down.


End file.
